Only when a storm starts to they start to deliberate how much of the precious salt stash to put on the roads.

Chicago knows that you've got to get your plows out there before the snow starts to fall and get everything presalted, and then keep plowing and salting to keep up with the weather. Mayor Daley learned last month that doing this on the cheap (he tried to keep the plowing on the sidestreets to 9-5, M-F for a month to save on overtime pay) just pisses off the voters and makes plowing worse after the snow on those sidestreets have turned to sheets of ice.

Sure, the salt's expensive (and getting more so every year) and so are the manhours, but you do keep the voters happy.

Roomba for your kitchen table

If a robot is good enough to vacuum your floors, why not have one to swoop up breadcrumbs from your kitchen table, too? Designed for tables and kitchen countertops, the Mini Robo Vacuum will pick up breadcrumbs, pencil shavings, ice cream sprinkles — whatever. It's much hipper than an old-fashioned crumb sweep … noisier, but cuter.

The Robo works simply enough: Press the top and it begins to suck. Available in three colors, it runs on two AA batteries. For only $20, might as well get a few to help out around the house. Do you need one? No. Do you want one? Heck, yeah!

When I first moved to DC, I remember a coworker telling me how much more snow she had in Virginia than we had in DC -- she said her lawn was COVERED in snow! I asked her how deep it was, and she said that actually, you could still see the grass poking up in places. Um, yeah, that's not an impressive amount of snow to someone from New England.

It took over 45 minutes to chip my car out. Fifteen of that was spent trying to get the door open. At least 1/4" of ice, likely more.

Bodice/corset thing made with beer can tabs: New Bodice

The crumb sweeper was invented right here in Baltimore. Allegedly. My best friend is a little obsessed with them (or, with there being no crumbs on the table).

Chicago knows that you've got to get your plows out there before the snow starts to fall and get everything presalted, and then keep plowing and salting to keep up with the weather.

I think that baltimore has gotten better with this in the last few years. In no small part because we've had such mild winters that they've ended the winter with surpluses of salt and money from not having to send crews out more than once or twice.

I think our President was a little hasty dissing the school systems for closing, actually, because the sidewalks were impossible, even at 10 a.m. when I dropped the dog off. I saw quite a few parents walking their kids to school take flyers.

Also, I know that the public school systems will close if the bus companies tell them they won't put their drivers on the road.

But, having spent all those years in Buffalo, I agree that DC (and California) people are weather wimps.

15 Gifts That Will Surely Piss Off Your Valentine

Valentine's Gift #8: For The Crappy Lover

Any fan of J. Geils Band, will certainly know "Love Stinks." Never before was this quite so perfectly illustrated before this wonderful message was delivered with fake poop. It may actually not stink like the real thing, but I'm sure your date will understand the underlying hate in your gift of "I love you" poop.

the real problem is that DC has 1) no money 2) is kinda sorta really poorly run. I mean, right?

you know what would get me stoked? DC representaion from the Obama administration. Also, covering DC's expenses for stuff like the inauguration [link]

I will say, having lived through an ice storm in NC, that ice and snow are completely different things to prep for and deal with, and ice is harder and tricker. And it seems like semi-southern areas are more likely to have ice than snow on the infrequent occasions wintry stuff falls from the sky. And the unpreparedness thing - the time that people were stuck on the highway in traffic for 12 hours and elementary school kids had to spend the night at school was not predicted to snow, and there wasn't any pre-salting, and 1/4 inch of snow totally fucked everything up. On a different occasion I witnessed a *road-grader* attempting to plow a highway in Durham. They just have no equipment for that stuff.